Treasure Awaits!
by NovaCalla
Summary: My submission for the Pro-Bending Circuit round 3. Varrick and Zhu Li go on a treasure hunt and a little mayhem ensues.


A.N. This is my submission for round three of the pro-bending circuit. My prompts are green, yawning, and (AU) treasure hunt. Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Word count - 1666…. }:)

Treasure Awaits!

"Captain! We've found it!" Zhu Li shouts to Varrick who, mid yawn, runs over to look over her shoulder and examine the sensors. "By golly we have." Varrick says softly, hardly able to believe that they'd found it. For more than three years they had been searching tirelessly to find it, all their hard work had finally paid off. "Zhu Li, do the thing."

"Gladly, sir." She says and sets a direct course heading to the source of the signature. "My sensors are picking up a great deal of hard rock and stone surrounding the object. It appears to be in a cavern of some sort. That will make it impossible to extract it with the grappling hook. We'll have to go in and retrieve it by hand." Varrick groans softly as he sits back in the captain's chair.

"You know how I hate that whole, _exercise_ thing Zhu Li."

"Yes, sir, I'm well aware, but if you want it, we have to go get it." His statement makes Zhu Li think of the numerous times that she'd done all the heavy lifting for their experiments or adventures. It had all been worth it though. Varrick was a brilliant inventor as well as treasure hunter and Zhu Li was proud to be his assistant. Varrick groans and sinks down further into his seat. "Do I _have_ to?" He wines.

"Technically no sir, but you are the best treasure hunter in the world and the retrieval would go smoother if you went along." Zhu Li tries to appeal to his ego which was not that hard, it was huge. "Mhm, I guess you're right Zhu Li, I wouldn't want you to damage the item during retrieval." He says stroking his chin. "No, sir we wouldn't." Zhu Li says dryly, Varrick had damaged more treasure than she ever had, but she wouldn't bring that up. "ETA is twelve minutes sir." He nods and stands up.

"Make sure you bring your good gear Zhu Li, I've got a feeling that this is going to be a doozy of an operation." He says clearly, his baritone voice projecting across the bridge of the _Zhu Li,_ the newest treasure hunting ship that Varrick had invented. Varrick leaves and heads to his cabin to get dressed in his gear. Zhu Li stands and heads to her own cabin, a member of the crew immediately taking her place and piloting the craft. Zhu Li meets Varrick down at the entryway of the ship in exactly ten minutes. They are both dressed in their best gear, each outfitted with a personal shield and a helmet that comes with scanners and night vision. There were several other gadgets embedded in the gear for protection and tools to help with extracting the treasure. "Ready to get some treasure Zhu Li?!" Varrick says excitedly. "Yes, sir." Zhu Li says calmly.

"Then let's get a treasure hunting!" He says and debarks the ship with a hop in his step. Zhu Li chuckles and follows him off, a scanner in his hand. "The treasure is in that direction sir." Zhu Li points to the east. "Then east we go!" He heads off. "How far is it Zhu Li? Please tell me we aren't walking too far?"

"Two kilometers sir." Varrick groans and turns around.

"And we can't park any closer?!"

"No, sir the _Zhu Li_ is too big to fit between any of the rocks surrounding the treasure."

"Too big to fit by the treasure, some treasure hunting ship. Who designed that hunk of tin anyway?"

"Ah, you did sir."

"Oh yeah… Zhu Li! Make a note 'invent better ship'."

"Duly noted sir." Varrick keeps walking admiring the surrounding area as he does. "We've finally got it Zhu Li! After all this time we finally found it! I can't wait to get my hands on it. Ooooh, the fun I'll have." He giggles with an excitement that was almost child like. Zhu Li chuckles as they climb over a pile of rocks. "How much further?"

".6 km, sir." He groans. "That's soo far, can't you make it closer?"

"No, sir I can't move earth." Varrick looks back at her. "Bummer." They keep walking and climbing until they reach the treasure's location. "Well? Where is it?" Varrick says looking around at the piles of rock and up at some birds flying overhead. He steps over one and is harshly pulled back by Zhu Li. "Hey?!" Zhu Li points to the 3 meter long hole in the ground that he almost stepped in. "Oh… Good catch there Zhu Li." He hits some buttons on his sleeve and some climbing gear pops out. "Down we go!" He attaches the anchor to a big rock and starts his journey down the hole. "How deep is this?"

"Over 200 meters, sir."

"Well, I hope my rope doesn't break! There would be a Varrick pile down at the bottom."

"Indeed, sir." Zhu Li says repelling down beside him. They both activate the lights on their helmets as they descend deeper into the pit. Once they are down they shine their lights around the room. "Whoa." Varrick murmurs taking in the ancient ruins around them. Massive white marble pillars run down the length of the giant hall, standing five meters high. Marble tiles with intricate designs cover the floors and walls. The ceiling is a mixture of earth and stone support, green vines could be seen weaving in and out of the earth some of which could be seen dangling down from the ceiling. At the other end of the hall is a pedestal with the treasure on top. "There it is!" A single beam of light is flickering in through another hole, illuminating the object. Varrick starts running towards it. "Sir!" Zhu Li calls out. "There could be booby traps!" He huffs and stops halfway down the steps to the flat stones of the hall.

"Why you gotta be such a downer?"

"I'm merely your sense of self preservation come to life." He rolls his eyes. "What's the scanners say?"

"There is some sort of interference so I can't get a good reading." Zhu Li mumbls, her fingers flying over the sensor in an effort to compensate for the interference. "It's no use, there is too much interference. We're flying blind, sir."

"Zhu Li, I think you need to get your eyes checked we aren't flying."

"It was a figure of speech, sir."

"Ah… well then…" He creeps forward slowly looking all around for any traps. "It doesn't look booby trapped."

"Looks can be deceiving, sir."

"That they can, Zhu Li, that they can." They keep walking forward slowly towards the object on the pedestal, a small stone falls from the ceiling across the hall and the noise it makes echoes throughout the hall. "What was that!?" Varrick whispers, his eyes darting around for any sign of danger.

"I believe it was a stone, sir." Zhu Li says looking around the room. "It appears there are no booby traps, sir, I believe we may proceed." They walk at a normal pace towards the pedestal.

"I can't believe it's right here. The jade fans that Kyoshi herself used." Varrick says awed, walking around them. "It's ours, Zhu Li! After all this time we finally have it!" Zhu Li is walking behind him with her hand scanner out, still trying to get a good read on it.

"There's still too much interference, I can't get a good reading to tell you if it's safe to pick up."

"Welp, only one way to find out!" Varrick quickly picks the fans up off the pedestal holding his breath as he waits… nothing happens. "See, that wasn't so bad." He declares triumphantly.

"It appears-" The walls and pillars start to shake violently swallowing the last of her sentence. "Run!" She screams and darts down the hall, it now seeming much longer now that the supports were giving out. The marble pillars come crashing down almost on top of them as they run for their lives. Varrick hold the fans tightly to him as they both dart around the falling pillars and stones. After what seems like an eternity of running they make it to their ropes. "Hurry! This place is going to come crashing down any minute!" Varrick yells as he starts attaching himself to the ropes for the climb up.

A tremor shakes the ground around them and the fan goes flying out of his hands. Time seems to slow as Varrick watches the fan fly out of his hands, a massive chunk of the ceiling is falling right towards Zhu Li and another slab the fan. Varrick looks at the fan and back at Zhu Li, only having a split second to make his decision. Varrick leaps towards Zhu Li and knocks her over, the boulder crashing down where she was only a moment ago. The fan is crushed underneath a ton of rock as Varrick picks Zhu Li up and runs back to the ropes. He quickly ties it around them both and activates the motor that will pull them up to safety.

"Are you alright?" Varrick says holding Zhu Li tightly against him as they rapidly ascend the tunnel.

"Sir… you saved me. The treasure…" She says looking down the shaft to the now buried treasure.

"There will always be more treasure Zhu Li, but only one you." He whispers softly making a blush appear on her cheeks. At the top they pull themselves out and collapse on the ground. "That was entirely too close Zhu Li." Varrick pants.

"Agreed." Zhu Li says laying beside him.

"Today made me realize something.' Varrick whispers turning over to look at her. "I don't think I can ever live without you… Marry me?"

"What?" Zhu Li says wide eyed.

"Marry me." Varrick repeats. "You know, do the thing with me forever?" Zhu Li smiles.

"Yes, I will." She smiles brightly at him as they share their first sweet kiss.


End file.
